Relationship Sense
by Lyra Verse
Summary: The Walking Dead AU. No zombies. Rick and Michonne are high school students. They're two teenagers who usually stick to their own separate circles in school but a Chemistry project and the loss of their virginity to each other causes their normal world to become a mess.
1. Chapter 1

\- Okay. So, this was going to be one of my one-shots but as I was writing, I realized this story could go further. So it's gonna be a short fic of mine. 3-5 chapters. It's an AU. Rick and Michonne are in high school. No zombies. Read on. -

Chapter One

Rick was lying in the bed of a stranger's house in a state of disbelief. The cotton sheets that would normally have felt soft and inviting felt uncomfortable against his skin. He focused on the bumpy texture of the ceiling because he didn't want to focus on anything else. Especially not the girl lying beside him.

'I can't believe I lost my virginity,' Rick thought.

And he couldn't believe that he had lost it to someone other than Lori Stevens. His high school sweetheart. It was true that they were currently in the middle of one of their frequent breakups, but both knew that they would probably just end up getting back together. It was always like that for them.

'What if I've ruined it?' Rick thought, his heart pounding.

He couldn't imagine being without Lori. And the people around him would never imagine him being without Lori. It just didn't make sense.

'What have I done?' he wondered.

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Michonne was lying in the bed of a stranger's house in a state of muted shock. The cotton sheets that would normally have felt soft and inviting felt itchy against her skin. She focused on the way the light from a nearby lamp reflected itself on the ceiling because she didn't want to focus on anything else. Especially not the boy lying beside her.

'I can't believe I lost my virginity,' Michonne thought.

And she couldn't believe that she had lost it to Rick Grimes. She had always expected her first time to be with someone like...her mind went to Mike Trevors – a handsome African American boy who was friends with her brother. He flirted with her sometimes, but they had never taken it any farther than that. Michonne suspected they would eventually enter into a relationship though.

'Have I ruined it?' she thought, her heart pounding.

She could imagine being with Mike but...being with Rick? She shook her head slightly. How did this even happen? They didn't even run in the same circles at school. He hung out with his cowboy country friends and she was always with her outspoken girlfriends. She wondered what they would say if she were to tell them about this. After the shock wore off, they would probably tease her about losing it to a white boy. They knew about her crush on Mike. And then they would ask if the stereotypes were true about white guys' penises. She shook her head. She wouldn't tell her friends.

'This is all Mrs. McKinnon's fault!' she thought.

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'This is all Mrs. McKinnon's fault!' Rick thought.

Mrs. McKinnon was their Chemistry teacher. She had had the bright idea of not letting students pick their partners and had randomly paired people up from her roll call sheet. That's how he and Michonne had been put together to work on some stupid project. Rick had been immediately intimidated by Michonne's intelligence. He had thought he was doing good with his straight B's and occasional C's! But he had found out that Michonne had never once gotten any grade below an A. She had told him that when he didn't seem to be able to keep up with what she was telling him about a cool idea she had for the project.

"Now look. You're gonna have to keep up if we're gonna work together on this. I've never had any grade below an A minus." Those had been her exact words at the time. He didn't even know how that was possible. But he had immediately admitted his weakness in Chemistry and had given her the stamp of being team leader. "Alright," Michonne had said. "Just don't expect me to do _all _the work." Rick had only nodded. The girls he hung out with usually weren't so direct. He had needed to adjust and adapt.

And he had adapted fine. It turned out that they were a great team. Michonne had a sharp mind and she had a lot of ideas. But sometimes her many ideas were more of a hindrance than a help. Rick was great in being able to help them focus in on one idea and bring it from the mind to the table. "Okay," Michonne had said when they were halfway done with their project way before schedule. "You can have your team leader card back."

Rick smiled now, thinking about it.

It was because they were so far ahead on their project, though, that they had decided to come out and celebrate at this party some guy from their school was throwing. The smile fell off of Rick's face again.

'We should never have come,' he thought.

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Michonne thought back to how they had ended up at the party.

They had high-fived after looking at their mostly complete, and successful project. Looking at her watch, Michonne had begun to put her backpack on to leave Rick's house – that's where they usually worked on the project. "We have a meeting set for tomorrow so that we can work on this some more," she said. "But seeing how far along we are, I think we can call that off. I think I want a day away from this for a little while."

"Yeah!" Rick had said. "Definitely!" As he led her to the door, a thought had seemed to strike him. "You know Shane – my friend? He has this other friend that's gonna be throwing a party tomorrow. You should go!"

"I don't know," Michonne had said. She didn't know how she would fare at a party full of people she didn't really know. "Are you going?" It would be nice to have someone she knew there.

"Yeah," Rick said with a lopsided grin. He held the door open for her, and they paused in the doorway to finish their discussion. "You wanna meet there? Or we could go together, you know. My dad let me buy myself a new car 'cause I earned enough money from my summer jobs."

"Oh! You bought your own car?" Michonne asked, impressed. The way his chest puffed out proudly didn't go unnoticed by her.

"Yeah," he said. Then he shrugged with a flushed face. "It was nothing."

Michonne smiled at his modest act. She considered his offer for a moment. She wouldn't mind going but their were some implications that going together might have. She couldn't shake the thought that it seemed like a date. She wondered if Rick was just naively overlooking that fact. "I'd love to go with you," Michonne said. "But...don't you think it would be better if you went to this party with your girlfriend?" Rick's expression fell slightly. "I mean, that Lori girl _is _your girlfriend right? I see you together all the time."

"...We actually broke up a couple of weeks ago," Rick said despondently.

"Oh!" Michonne said. 'Good job bringing up a sore topic, Michonne,' she scolded herself. "Well...fine then," she said. "I don't know the address so...I would love if you could pick me up for the party and we could go...together."

Rick smiled. "Okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Michonne said. She stepped out of the house. "Oh!" she had said, turning back. "Should I dress up or just go casual?"

"Casual is fine," Rick said.

"Okay."

"Okay."

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Rick thought about what had led them to this moment.

They had arrived at the party. Michonne's beautiful and fascinating dreads had been pulled up into a half-up style and she wore tight jeans that flared over fancy, black, open-toed shoes and a white, fleece, turtleneck shirt that had long sleeves and clung to her thin frame. A long necklace hung around her neck and fell between her pert breasts. Rick let his eyes appreciate her for the fourteenth time as they walked into the place.

There were a lot of people there and the house was huge! Some people were gathered around the pool out back.

Rick had planned on introducing Michonne to a few people then going off to do his own thing. But he felt a certain responsibility over her since he was the one that brought her there. He could tell that she was uncomfortable in the middle of so many people she was unfamiliar with, so he ended up staying by her side the whole night.

They had drank some punch, found out it was spiked, then drank some more _because _it was spiked. Neither of them drank enough to get drunk though. Rick, because he was the driver between the two, and Michonne because she didn't like being drunk in general. She hated feeling out of control.

Rick went from circle to circle, talking to friends he knew and making sure that Michonne was included in the conversation. He knew Lori was around somewhere but he avoided seeking her out. If she wanted to talk, she could come to him.

Instead he had forced Michonne onto the dance floor after she had mocked the music coming out of the loudspeakers. Feeling warm from the small amount of drink he had imbued and the overall atmosphere of the party in general, he had dropped his inhibitions and pulled her close, forcing her to move along with him to the music. They weren't doing anything resembling dancing because honestly...the music was hard to dance to. But they were having fun.

Rick would never know what possessed him to grab her hand and pull her up the stairs of the house to the second floor. He just knew that the first floor was getting too crowded, he was feeling strangely hot, and he wanted to look around the house of someone who obviously had more money than he did.

The first room they opened the door to, they found a couple making out on the bed. They immediately shut the door on the faces of the startled couple and laughed.

"Wait," Michonne had said. She cracked the door open again, putting only her hand through and locked the door from the other side before closing the door again.

This made Rick laugh harder. They giggled their way to the next door, feeling silly, and paused outside of it. "Maybe we should knock," Michonne whispered.

Rick rapped his knuckles against the door. He barely waited a second for an answer and then burst in. They poked their heads in and saw that it was empty.

"Nice bedroom," Michonne said, walking in. She stumbled as she walked past Rick and he caught her by wrapping his arm around her middle.

"Whoa," he said. "You okay? You sure you didn't drink more than you thought?"

"No," Michonne said. "It's these shoes. They're crazy high. See?" Michonne lifted the leg of her jeans and showed him the heel and platform bottoms of the shoes.

"Those _are_ high," Rick said, releasing her middle. "How are you even walking in them?"

"Very carefully." Michonne went to the bed and sat down to take her shoes off for a moment. Rick closed the door and glanced around at all of the photos on the walls. It was all sports paraphernalia. Whoever this room belonged to was a sports fan. When he looked over and saw Michonne still struggling with her shoes, he went forward and bent down on one knee to help her take them off. He didn't take notice of Michonne's look of surprise. He became preoccupied with the maze of straps that made up the shoe.

"What is this?" he asked. "A puzzle?"

Michonne chuckled. "Let me do it." She reached down to continue where she left off, but Rick brushed her hand away. "Fine then, since you're determined to be a prince," she said. She settled in and let Rick struggle with her shoe, her foot resting on his thigh. He wasn't aware that his concentration on his task allowed Michonne to admire his good looks freely.

"You're handsome," she said, speaking her thoughts aloud.

Rick blushed but tried to act cool and nonchalant about the comment. "You're just now realizing this?" he asked.

"Kind of, yeah," Michonne said. "I don't usually pay attention to whether white guys look good or not."

Rick chuckled at her honesty. "Well, maybe you should start."

"Maybe I should..."

Rick managed to get one of Michonne's shoes off and smiled up at her. Michonne smiled back, struck again by his good looks and pretty blue eyes. "So why did you and Lori break up?" she asked. "I find it hard to believe that she'd let a handsome guy like you, who gets down on his knees for a woman, just...get away."

A lopsided grin touched Rick's face again. He was really feeling bolstered by all of the compliments. "It's complicated," he said. "We...Well, we're together because it makes sense. And sometimes it feels like that's the _only _reason we're together. If that makes sense..."

Michonne nodded. "It makes perfect sense." Her other shoe came off and Rick joined her on the bed, sitting beside her. "So who broke it off?" she asked. "You or her?"

"Well, this time it was her so..." Rick shrugged.

"Aw. So you're heartbroken..." Michonne teased.

Rick looked at Michonne and realized how close they were. His eyes fell to her lips. "I wouldn't say that..." Rick said. Michonne smile and Rick continued. "You know...I never really paid attention to the beauty of..." Rick trailed off.

Michonne chuckled at his awkwardness. "...black girls," she supplied for him.

Rick gave an appreciative nod and continued weakly, "...either."

"We're really missing out on checking out half the world's population," Michonne said lightly.

"I know..." Rick said. His eyes went to her lips again.

"You wanna see how it feels to _kiss _a black girl?" Michonne found herself asking.

Rick didn't say anything but his eyes told her everything.

"Go for it," she said.

So Rick had gone for it. And he hadn't stopped.

Back in the present, Rick closed his eyes so as to not think about all the details. He sighed deeply, took a deep breath and finally turned to face the girl beside him.

"Are- are you okay?" he asked, unsure of where to start.

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Michonne glanced at him. "I'm fine," she said, clutching the cotton sheets over her breasts. She figured they should probably get up and get dressed but she didn't want to be the one to make the first move. She didn't want to _move_. Period. Moving would mean going back home to face her parents! Michonne's stomach flipped in dread. She wasn't going to tell her friends; she _couldn't _tell her parents! Who could she talk to about this? Besides... "What do you think we should do now?" she asked.

"Do?" Rick's voice cracked. "Uhh..."

"Do _not _say 'nothing'," Michonne said. "This happened. We have to deal with it."

"...How?" Rick asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me..." Michonne and Rick lay silently again. "This is so...messed up..." she finally said. "We don't even know who's bedroom this is! We're in a house full of people! We-" Michonne lowered her voice just in case someone happened to wander through in order to use the upstairs bathroom. "We used someone else's condoms!"

The newly opened box was sitting atop the dresser. In the heat of the moment they had been lucky – or unlucky – enough to open the first drawer and find the unopened box of protection.

"I can't believe this happened," Rick said. "I always imagined my first time would be with Lo-"

"Stop. Let's not talk about who we'd rather be with."

Rick's face flushed with shame when he realized how inconsiderate he must have sounded. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just didn't imagine _my _first time to be like this either."

"Well...I didn't hurt you did I?"

"...It hurt a little," Michonne admitted. Rick looked over at her with a worried expression. "But I heard that's normal for the first time so..." she shrugged.

"So...so it was okay past that?" Rick asked.

"Well...then it was uncomfortable. Then it was over..."

Rick's face flushed. "That does _not _sound good at all."

Michonne shrugged again, not really knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it as much as I did," Rick continued.

Michonne tried to contain a small smile. It was the first time her mind stopped flipping to the future, wondering how she was going to deal with the after of this event. "You liked it?" she asked. "Even though I'm not Lori?"

"Well...yeah," Rick said. "It felt good..."

"Well, that's good I guess...It's not fair that guys get to have all the fun though."

"I'm sure it's fun for women too. Or why would it be such a big deal? I probably just did it wrong."

Michonne looked over at Rick and laughed.

"What?" Rick asked, looking over at her curiously.

"You're probably the only man in the world who would actually say that out loud."

Rick chuckled as well. "Yeah, well...you can't hold it against me 'cause it was my first time. I didn't know what I was doing."

"So you think it would be better the second time?" Michonne asked.

Rick looked at her. "What?"

"We have a whole box of condoms left..."

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Rick chuckled nervously. Was she suggesting that they have sex again? "I don't know if it would be wise..." Rick said. "I mean...we've already done it once-"

"Exactly," Michonne said. "We've already done it once. We might as well. I want to know how good sex feels too."

"Uhh..." Rick felt like there were many better, wiser things to say in that moment but he couldn't think of them. He only said. "...Okay."

Michonne reached into the box and handed him another condom. With his heart pounding anew in his chest, Rick ripped over the pack and reached under the covers to slide it over his member. "Can you do it again so soon after the first time?" Michonne asked.

"Yeah," Rick answered. He had begun to harden again right after she asked if a second time would be better. He finished covering his erected length and moved slid towards Michonne. She turned and met his eyes but she was still clutching the sheets over her bare body. Rick covered her hand with his and gently moved it away.

He slid closer, his eyes never straying from hers, and Michonne felt his hardness touch her thigh. Her breathing grew heavy and she began to feel warm all over. His hand fell over her sheet-covered breast and groped it lightly. It felt good. Blood began to rush to Michonne's throbbing center. She closed her eyes and allowed Rick's lips to consume hers for a moment before he moved over her and positioned himself between her thighs.

He stared down at her for a moment. Once they did this a second time, there would be no saying that they just made a silly mistake in the heat of the moment. This was premeditated sex. "You sure about this?" Rick asked.

Michonne nodded.

His heart beating fast, Rick began to push into her slowly. Unlike the first time, he felt when she tensed up. He paused.

He leaned down to kiss her, pushing his tongue gently into her mouth. When she began to return the kiss passionately, he pushed further into her center of warmth. Michonne moaned into his mouth. "You okay?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Michonne whispered. "It feels better already."

"Really?" Rick pulled back to see her expression, wearing a goofily hopeful expression of his own. When Michonne smiled in amusement, he fixed his expression to a cooler one. There was just quite a bit of pressure on him to make this time really good for her.

"Yeah, really," Michonne answered. "Keep going."

Rick filled her completely and then paused again, allowing her to adjust. He needed time as well. The tightness and heat of her seemed to feel better the second time around. He shook, trying to contain himself. He _had _to last more than two minutes this time.

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Michonne grasped Rick's shoulders as he began to pump inside of her. The friction their bodies were creating made her feel an escalating kind of pleasure. She felt like a firecracker whose fuse was burning. A pleasurable sigh escaped her lips.

Rick was watching her intently. It made her feel slightly self-conscious. He was trying to make sure she was enjoying it but she didn't want to make some silly sound or pull some silly expression in front of him in the midst of feeling good.

"Rick," she whispered. "Don't look at me like that."

She was sure Rick didn't know what she meant but he obliged by dropping his head to clumsily kiss at her breasts. No longer under Rick's intense gaze, Michonne felt free to enjoy the new pleasures in her body without feeling self-conscious about it. She closed her eyes and licked her lips, beginning to move her hips to meet his thrusts.

"Oh, Rick," she whispered. Even his sloppy attention to her nipples felt good. When she felt the sloppy kisses stop, she opened her eyes to see Rick staring down at her again.

She was about to tell him to stop looking at her again but she suddenly found herself taken by the way his piercing blue eyes darkened with lust and passion as he looked down at her. She openly moaned as he began to increase his pace.

"Rick," she whispered passionately again.

He grasped her breast as he moved faster and faster. It felt good until he began to squeeze too hard. "Ow ow ow," Michonne said, grasping the hand that covered her breast.

"Sorry," Rick said quickly, releasing her. The rhythm of his thrusting was broken for a moment.

"It's okay," Michonne said, lifting her hips. "Keep going, keep going." She placed his hand back on her breast. "Just don't squeeze so hard."

Rick soon managed to get his rhythm back and Michonne felt herself getting ready to explode.

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They had been going at it for at least five minutes and Rick felt like he couldn't hold back much longer so he felt like it was about time for the big finish. And Michonne seemed to be enjoying it. She was wiggling and moaning much more than she had the first time. He kissed her neck as she moaned his name for the tenth time that night.

"Michonne?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"Yeah?" she responded, not sounding much better than him.

"Are you – are you about to-?"

"I think so. You?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Okay."

Michonne grasped Rick's hip to help him enter her as fully as possible. Her short moans in his ear brought him to the peak. He thrust into her quicker and quicker until he froze, reveling in the intense pleasure that he had discovered only this type of physical activity could bring. It was even better than the first time. Maybe because this time, he was sharing the feeling with Michonne. The way her womanly walls clenched around him and the expression on her face told him that he had successfully given her a night to remember. And not in a "my first time was so horrible" way.

After a few seconds, Michonne's body lost its tension and she collapsed into her pillow. Rick rolled off of her, spent and out of energy.

They breathed together, just looking at the ceiling. This time there was no air of disbelief or shock afterwards. Just a sort of "that happened" feeling.

Rick took off the used condom and threw it into the trash can near the bed along with the last one. Michonne looked over to see him do it.

"The owner of this room is going to want to burn this place when they find out," she said.

Rick silently agreed. "Remind me to never have a party like this at my house."

"Remind me to never invite people like _us _to a party of _mine_," Michonne laughed.

Rick chuckled. "But who would have thought that _we_ would end up having sex?"

Michonne shook her head. "I sure didn't." She sat up and put the condoms back in the drawer. She tried to fix the box so that it didn't look so obviously opened. "Let's put some other trash in the garbage can to cover the used condoms."

Rick sat up as well, following her lead. "Okay."

They got out of bed, got dressed, and Rick ripped some pages out of a nearby magazine to throw in the garbage can, covering any immediate evidence of their indiscretion. "This way, if the owner of this room isn't that attentive...they'll never know."

Michonne laughed. "Oh, I think they'll know eventually. But we'll be long gone." Done with his task, Rick looked over to see that Michonne was making the bed.

"Okay. That's disgusting," Rick said.

"Shh! Hopefully, they'll suspect something and wash the sheets before they lay down to sleep."

Rick shook his head with another lopsided smile on his face. "You scare me sometimes."

Michonne grabbed her shoes and they tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind themselves. They began to make their way out of the room and whatever had caused Rick to drag Michonne upstairs must have possessed him again because he ended up grabbing her hand.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Michonne asked, coming to a stop.

"...Holding your hand?" Rick said. He avoided her eyes.

"Well." Michonne was silent for a while. Rick became fidgety. "Rick..." Michonne said. "I hope you don't think this means we're in a relationship or anything."

Rick felt his face flush but he didn't let go of her hand. "Why not though?" he asked. "We could try it, don't you think? I don't see what it would hurt..."

Rick waited nervously for Michonne's response. The seconds it took her to answer felt like hours. "My- my dad would kill me..." Michonne said.

"Why?" Rick asked.

"My friends wouldn't really understand."

"So?"

Another long pause passed. "Well, maybe we could-"

"Rick?"

Michonne and Rick turned to see Lori Stevens, a cute long-haired brunette round the corner, staring at them. Rick dropped Michonne's hand quickly. "Lori!" he said.

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Michonne didn't know what was happening. She had actually just been on the brink of agreeing to date Rick Grimes. _Rick Grimes_! That was unbelievable in and of itself but now she was being subjected to having to watch him get back together with his girlfriend. And they _did _seem to be getting back together. Michonne was just in a slight state of shock because she could swear that Rick had just had sex with _her _only a couple of minutes ago and _he _had been the one to ask _her _to try being in a relationship together.

"I've just been thinking about you all night and I think I was too quick in calling it quits," Lori was saying. "We _belong _together."

Rick glanced over at Michonne. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Um...Can we- can we talk about this later?" he asked Lori.

Lori followed Rick's glances and looked over at Michonne. "Oh," she said. "This is your Chemistry partner right? Hi," she said, extending her hand for a handshake. "I'm Lori. Rick's girlfriend."

"Oh, hey," Michonne said, shaking Lori's hand briefly. "I actually thought you two broke up." She fixed Lori with a not-so-friendly stare.

The polite smile fell off of Lori's face. "No, we didn't really break up. We just took a _break_. There's a difference. We always get back together." She turned to Rick and took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. "Right baby?"

Michonne stared at Rick, waiting for him to...do something. But he didn't do anything. He just stood there and let her hold his hand. Michonne rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said, choosing not to stand around feeling like the fool here. "You two have fun with that. I'm gonna go home."

"Wait. Michonne-"

"Rick. We've gotta talk about this."

Michonne walked down the hall and turned the corner, ignoring Rick and Lori's voices. She weaved her way through the bodies of teenagers still in full party mode and made her way out the front door. She was halfway down the block when she realized she lived pretty far away. It was going to take her at least an hour to get back to her house walking.

She turned to go back. Decided she couldn't. Stayed still. And grew frustrated. "I'm so stupid!" she yelled. The enormity of what she had just done washed over her. She had just lost her virginity. To some guy who preferred some other girl. Angry tears began to build up in Michonne's eyes and she continued down the sidwalk. She wasn't going to go back. She would walk _ten _hours before going back to face that embarrassment. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she berated herself, wondering how she would deal with this going forward.


	2. Chapter 2

\- New chapter -

Chapter 2: The After Effect

Michonne watched Lori and Rick talking and laughing together in the hallway. She wished the glare from her eyes could burn the two of them to the ground. Knowing she didn't want to be caught staring, she gave an angry groan and turned to slam her locker door closed. It was crazy how even a few weeks ago, Rick Grimes hadn't even been on her radar. Now he was all she could think about. Him and what they had done.

"Girl, what's wrong with you?" Sasha asked. Sasha was a pretty girl who wore her hair in a stylish afro. And she was one of Michonne's best friends.

Michonne had sworn to herself that she wouldn't tell any of her friends about what had happened. It was too embarrassing. But if she were to tell anyone...Sasha would be the perfect person. And Michonne was feeling all filled up from having to keep something so frustrating inside. She needed someone to be on her side. "Sasha," Michonne said, turning around. "I have to tell you something. But you have to promise that you won't tell anybody else."

Sasha immediately straightened up and focused on Michonne, giving her all of her attention. It was always something serious and juicy when the sentence started like that. "I promise," she said.

Michonne took a deep breath and expelled it, speaking the words before she could lose her nerve. "IlostmyvirginitytoRickGrimesatapartylastweek," she said quickly.

"...What?" Sasha asked, tilting her head towards Michonne. She hadn't caught a lot of that but she was sure she heard "lost" and "virginity" in the same sentence.

Michonne took another deep breath and repeated what she said. More quietly but more slowly as well. "I lost my virginity to Rick Grimes at a party last week."

Sasha's eyes widened and she lowered her voice as well. "You did what?!" she whispered with urgency. "And who the hell is Rick Grimes?!"

Michonne pointed over Sasha's shoulder towards Rick. He was still talking to Lori. Sasha followed the direction Michonne's finger was pointing with her eyes and she turned back around with a sigh. "Girl, uh-uh..." she said. "You did _not _lose your virginity to that bow-legged white boy. I thought you liked Mike!"

Michonne felt frustrated tears begin to well up again. "I do," she said. "Or I _did_! Or at least I _thought _I did!"

Sasha sighed again and gave Michonne's arms a comforting squeeze. She tried to rein in her swirling thoughts for the sake of her friend. Freaking out on her part would not help things right now. She could tell that Michonne already had some of the freaking out part down for the both of them. And that was something considering how level-headed and calm Sasha knew Michonne to be. "Okay," she said. "It's okay. First of all...how did this even happen?"

"Okay...So we're lab partners," Michonne said. "In Chemistry."

"Right," Sasha said.

"And he's sweet in this Southern gentleman kind of way. He's got this cute twang in his voice going on, blue eyes – _God! _Really blue eyes – And he compliments me all the time. There's this thing he does when he talks...he tilts his head forward and sort of to the side and it's so cute and...Oh! Did I tell you he has a car? He bought it with money he earned from working summer jobs. Doesn't that show character? And how mature he is?"

Sasha stared at Michonne as she talked. She had never seen her friend go silly over a guy like this. She was leaning against her closed locker with hearts practically coming out of her eyes. She had to pull her friend out of this considering the fact that, at the moment, Rick wasn't over here with her but with some other girl who was clinging all over him. "If he's so mature," Sasha said. "Why is he over there with that string bean girl instead of over here with you after taking your virginity?"

That got the effect Sasha wanted; it sobered Michonne. She stood away from her locker. Sasha's eyes then took in what Michonne was wearing. She hadn't paid attention before.

Michonne's dreads were pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing makeup that made her skin glow and the right features stand out. Earrings dangled from her ears and framed her face and she wore a colorful shirt that clung at her breasts, accentuating them tastefully. The shirt was tucked into high-waisted jeans and a belt completed the look. Michonne usually dressed up but Sasha had never seen her look _this _classy before. Not on an average day of school.

"Girl, you look great today! What are you dressing up for?" She shot a look over at this Rick guy. "Don't tell me you're trying to get his attention!"

"No!" Michonne denied. But when Rick parted from Lori and began to make his way down the hall in their direction, Michonne's whole demeanor changed. She quickly turned to her locker and began to open it, making sure Rick knew she was definitely _not _aware of his presence.

"I thought you already put all of your books away," Sasha said, not fooled by Michonne's feigned indifference.

"I forgot something," Michonne said. "I have to look and see if I've got my lunch in here."

Sasha watched Rick's steps falter as he walked by Michonne but he kept going. She shook her head and looked back at Michonne who's body was tense and Sasha was sure she wasn't breathing. "You can relax; he's gone now," she said.

Michonne stopped rifling through her locker and closed it without retreiving anything. She sent an embarrassed look towards Sasha. "I'm in it pretty bad, aren't I?" she said.

Sasha sighed and wrapped a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders. "It's okay," she said. "Whatever you need, just say the word."

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Rick felt like a fool. And an idiot. And a coward.

He paced back and forth beside the door of the empty classroom. The last class had just let out for the day and it was time to go home but he was waiting for one particular person. She was still inside talking to the teacher. She came out about ten minutes later and Rick stood up quickly from where he had sat against the wall.

"Michonne!"

Her steps faltered when she saw Rick but ultimately she ignored him and kept going, making her way down the hallway. Rick ran to catch up. His mouth worked silently. There was so much he wanted to say he didn't know what to start with first. What he needed was for her to slow down...sit with him...talk with him. So he ended up asking, "When are you going to come by to finish our Chemistry project? It's due in three days."

That must have been the wrong thing to start with because Michonne swung to face him with her hand planted on her hip. "Our Chemistry project?" she asked back in disbelief. Anger flashed across her face. "I don't care if we fail it!" she said before turning to leave.

Rick knew that was a lie. She prided herself on her straight A's and her plan was to go to Harvard. There was no way she didn't care.

He ran to catch up with her again just as she pushed her way through the school doors and to the outside. "Let me give you a ride," he offered, following her down the stairs.

"I'll walk," she stated.

Rick caught up to her and tried to stop her by grabbing her arm. That also proved to be a wrong move. She whirled around with flashing eyes.

"Don't you ever touch me again!"

Rick raised his hands, letting her know he wouldn't do it again. Since he had her attention though, Rick began to speak.

"I looked for you after you left."

"After you ditched me, you mean."

"I didn't ditch you. _You're _the one who left without waiting for me."

"I was left standing in that hallway looking like an idiot while you got back together with your girlfriend! After we had just-!" Michonne took a breath and looked around. Lowering her voice, she finished. "After we had just had sex!"

"I didn't get back together with her," Rick rushed to explain. Michonne gave him a disbelieving look.

"Then why is it that every time I see you these days, I see her too."

"She's-!" Rick sighed. "It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it. Until then...I'm not speaking to you." She turned on her heels and began to walk away before she turned back. "I'll come to finish the project on Thursday." Then she walked away.

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Michonne twisted in front of her mirror on Thursday morning, attempting to see her outfit from every angle. She was wearing a long top that fell loosely to the middle of her thighs and she wore tights under that. On her feet, she wore high-heeled boots. Michonne wondered if she should wear something to show off her figure more but she liked the look that the long sweater gave. It made her feel petite. She wrapped a decorative belt around her middle, though, just to show off the fact that she _did _have a figure.

"You look good."

Michonne pulled in a small breath of air due to her surprise at suddenly not being alone. She smiled shyly and pulled at her earlobe when she saw who it was. Mike was standing in her doorway, watching her with a smile on his face.

"Thank you," Michonne replied. "How long have you been there?"

Mike crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against her door frame. "Long enough to see you turning this way and that, tryin' to see if you looked alright. So I thought I'd clear up any confusion. You look great. Like always."

Michonne was thankful for her dark complexion. Otherwise Mike would have seen her blushing profusely. She pulled at her earlobe again. Mike smiled. "What are you doing here so early?" Michonne asked. "Are you and my brother going out somewhere today?"

"Yeah. Just here and there. What about you? Where are you going that's got you so worried about your looks?" Michonne tried not to let her eyes wander across Mike's milk chocolate-colored skin or his biceps, which bulged with the tension of him crossing his arms across his chest. He had a chiseled face, strong jaw, narrow nose and full lips that were now beginning to be surrounded by a becoming black goatee as he grew older. And his eyes were the worst. They were golden like honey and warm. Michonne could feel it on her skin.

"Just..." Michonne shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "To a friend's house."

"A friend?" Mike asked, his deep voice a sexy gravel. "Should I be jealous?"

Michonne's eyes flew up to meet Mike's. She had harbored a long-time crush for him ever since her hormones had kicked in. He shaped her definition of what was sexy. And he was sometimes playful with her...playful to the extent that she wondered if he was flirting...but this was different. He was _definitely _flirting. And Michonne didn't know what to do about it. She only chuckled.

The moment was interrupted when Michonne's brother came up behind his friend. "Mike," he said. "Come on man. Leave my sister alone and let's go."

"Alright." Mike let Michonne's brother walk ahead of him and before he left, he turned back to Michonne. "I'll see you later...Michonne..."

"See ya..." Michonne waved like a smitten teenager (which is what she was) and stayed frozen, allowing her flying emotions to go all over the place up to ten minutes after Mike left. When she recovered, she fell back onto her bed with a sigh.

'Rick who?' she thought with a happy smile on her face.

She only wished that feeling could last when she stopped in front of Rick's door an hour later, though. Feeling nervous all over again, she smoothed her outfit, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.

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Rick checked himself over in the mirror for the thousandth time (he had barely been away from it since waking up that morning) and he rolled up the cuffs of his t-shirt and smoothed it with his hands.

"Whew," he breathed. He pushed his shoulders back. "Good. You're good."

He wore a blue and white striped plaid shirt, one that his mother had said brought out his eyes. It was tucked into a pair of blue jeans and finished with a brown belt and brown shoes.

"Coming!" he called.

He walked past the table in the living room and made sure the Chemistry project was looking just as it had the last time before he got to the door and opened it. His eyes involuntarily swept Michonne's body up and down before he invited her inside. "Come in," he said. A stone-faced Michonne walked past him and he closed the door after her.

"Just so we're clear on some things," Michonne was saying as she went over to the table where their Chemistry project was and began to take some things from her bag. "I'll only be talking to you today in regards to our Chemistry project. Any personal comments, topics, or subject matter will not be touched on by me no matter how you may try to bait me. We're going to finish this homework assignment today, and after that we will have no more reason to meet each other or even interact. And I would like for you to respect that distance. Understood? Great. Let's get started."

Rick wrang his hands together nervously. "...I think you'll be a great lawyer..." he said as he moved around the table to sit beside Michonne. She made a point of scooting away from him. "Okay," he said. "So the project..."

Michonne set right in on completing the project and making notes in her notebook. She spoke a lot about what she was doing so that Rick could be able to orally describe what the two were doing in the correct scientific terms but Rick wasn't listening to her. He was too busy wondering about how he could begin to talk about what had happened between them. He continued to wring his hands underneath the table and he stared at the side of Michonne's face. A nice scent was coming off of her body and he was enjoying that as well. Suddenly, Michonne sighed and sat her pen down, causing Rick to snap out of his thoughts. "What are you doing?" Michonne asked, turning to look at Rick. "Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

"No," a surprised Rick answered honestly. "I'm sorry."

Michonne stared at him, angry. Rick sighed, wishing he knew all the perfect things to say. "I've been wanting to talk to you all week. Ever since we..." He whispered the next words. "Slept together."

Michonne turned back to her notebook, relaying through silence that she was not going to talk about it. She picked up her pen and began to write. Rick talked to her anyway even though she put up a very good air of ignoring him.

"I just...couldn't get it together. Every time I saw you at school or thought about calling you, my body wouldn't work right. It wouldn't do what I wanted it to do." Rick let out a defeated sigh. He and words didn't get along. But he tried his best to say what he was feeling. "Then at a certain point, I felt like I had waited too long. And you were always surrounded by friends...it was hard for me." He looked down at Michonne's notebook and saw that she wasn't really writing anything. Only scribbles and jagged lines were forming across her page.

"...What about Lori?" Michonne finally asked. "Why are you always with her?"

"She's my friend," Rick rushed to explain, willing to tell her everything she wanted to know so that she would keep talking to him about something other than valent and covalent bonds. "We've been friends since we were practically babies."

Michonne stopped scribbling and fixed Rick with a stare. "She likes you."

"I know. But I told her that I think it's best we stay friends. She said she'll respect that."

Michonne began to scribble in her notebook again.

"You still mad at me?" Rick asked.

Michonne was quiet for a moment. "...You can't just sleep with me and then ignore me..." she said.

"I know," Rick said. "I'm an idiot and I wanted so much to talk to you! I just...overthink thangs..."

Michonne tried to keep herself from smiling at the way Rick's Southern dialect affected his words.

Seeing a small crack in her armor, Rick continued. "I've thought about you every day since that night. Every minute actually."

"Are you sure it's not just the sex you were thinking about?" Michonne asked quietly.

"It wasn't," Rick said. "It was you."

Rick saw the hint of another smile and he began to smile as well. Michonne tugged gently at her ear and turned to another page of her notebook. "Let's finish this project," she said.

"Okay." Rick inched closer to Michonne and she didn't inch away.

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Rick was going over the last paragraph of what would be their oral presentation and Michonne was leaning on her elbow watching his lips form the words when she received a text. She picked up her phone to read the message. It was Sasha. Michonne had told her to text her to make sure she didn't do anything stupid...like forgive the guy who had taken her virginity and then didn't talk to her for a week. Michonne's stomach twisted nervously. Her resolve to ice Rick out was already gone. She read the text.

'Hey girl. How's it going? You need me to come over and help black girl shame him?'

Michonne smiled. 'No,' she texted back quickly. 'It's fine. We're almost finished.' She sent a smiling emoticon.

Another text message came from Sasha almost immediately. 'You've forgiven him! Girl, get out of there! DON'T YOU LET HIM GET IN YOUR PANTS AGAIN!'

Michonne sat upright. 'Damn!' she thought. 'I knew the smiling emoticon was too much...' Michonne fiddled with her phone for a minute and bit her lip. 'I'm not going to have sex with him again,' she texted back. 'Don't worry. We've just decided to be mature about this and move on.' She sent the text and waited for a response. Rick's leg nudged against hers as he shifted slightly.

"I'm sorry," he muttered quickly, a blush forming across his cheeks.

"It's okay," Michonne whispered with a smile.

Michonne got another text. She opened it. 'I'm calling you,' it read. 'I know you. You're understanding and forgiving even when you don't need to be. You need a chaperone.' Michonne's eyes widened and she pressed the power button on her phone, shutting it off, right as the ringtone began to start up.

Rick looked over at her. "Was that your phone?" he asked. "Do you need to go? 'Cause I can finish this-"

"No," Michonne said quickly. "I don't need to go."

They stared at each other for a moment. "Good," Rick said.

Michonne tugged at her ear, bit her lip, and turned from his gaze with a fluttering heart.

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The project was finished but neither of them moved. Rick was sitting stiffly. He hoped that Michonne didn't notice. He figured he must look frozen and odd but he was covering up an embarrassing situation. His and Michonne's thighs had been touching under the table for the past few minutes and even that small contact caused his newly aware manhood to begin to grow in his pants. He remembered the heat of their last intercourse and it wouldn't leave his mind. He clasped his hands together and placed them in his lap, trying to hide the evidence of his straying thoughts.

"Do you think we'll get an A for this?" Rick asked, trying to get them talking about something to distract from his current predicament.

"Yeah," Michonne said. "You know me. I won't accept anything less."

Rick smiled over at her. "That puts a lot of pressure on me to get the oral presentation right."

"You won't have a problem," Michonne said. "We're plenty prepared."

"I don't know. I was never very good at oral presentations..." Rick said.

"Are you one of those people that get really nervous?" Michonne asked. She smiled at the image that thought presented. A red-faced and stuttering Rick Grimes with that cute, Southern twang of his.

"A little bit..." Rick said.

Michonne cleared her throat and sat up straighter. "So where are you planning to go to college?" Michonne asked. "It's our senior year. I'm sure you've thought about it."

"Well, I haven't got it all planned like you do...Harvard. But uh...I figured I'd go to a community college here and uh...probably enroll in a police academy after that."

Michonne's eyebrows shot up. "You want to be a police officer?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Rick said with another blush. "My dad was a police officer before he got injured. Now he's a trainer at the police academy. I guess I just always wanted to help people."

Michonne nodded. "Cool."

"What do your parents do?" Rick asked.

"My mom is a writer and my father is an attorney."

"I see..." Rick said. "So we're both following in our fathers footsteps."

Michonne smiled. "I guess."

"Your mom..." Rick said. "Has she written anything that I would be familiar with?"

Michonne cleared her throat. "She writes...romance novels," Michonne said, holding back an embarrassed smile.

"Oh." He tried to hold back a smile of his own but he couldn't.

"What?" Michonne said, pushing his arm. "Don't do that. I'm proud of my mom!"

Rick wished she wouldn't touch him with the condition he was in but he continued to play it cool. "No, I know," he said. "It's cool that she's an author."

"I used to sneak and read them because Mama wouldn't let me. 'Cause they have some...intimate material. But...I got my idea of what love is supposed to be from those books. Don't know if that's healthy or not," Michonne confessed.

"It's not," Rick said teasingly.

Michonne hit his arm gently. Rick groaned.

"What's wrong?" Michonne asked.

"Nothing," Rick said. He gritted his teeth through the demands his body was giving him. "I'm glad I didn't know about the romance novel thing when we slept together. I would've driven myself crazy trying to make sure I was on the same level as some Don Juan in _Heart's Desire 2_."

Michonne laughed and turned to face Rick. She rested her elbow on the cushion of the couch that they were leaning against and propped her head up onto her hand. "You did fine," she said.

Rick blushed again and he glanced in Michonne's direction but he couldn't continue to look at her for long.

Michonne smiled and admired Rick from the side for a while. After sitting for a few minutes and realizing she could sit there all day like that, Michonne's body gave her a warning signal. She remembered Sasha's text and sat up. "I should probably go," she said. "It's getting late."

"Really?" Rick asked. His eyes showed disappointment for a moment then he nodded. Of course she had to go at some time. "Okay," he said. He looked at the finished Chemistry project and realized further that they didn't have an excuse to meet anymore. He remembered what Michonne came in saying and wondered if she wanted to stick to that. He hoped she didn't. "Hey," he said. "My parents own a couple of horses. We keep them down at a friend's ranch. Maybe we can go horseback riding sometime."

Michonne looked surprised at the sudden suggestion. "Oh. Okay," she said. "Maybe! Yeah!"

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Rick asked.

Michonne shook her head. "No," she said with a laugh.

"That's okay. I can teach you."

"Cool," Michonne said. "Yeah. I'd definitely be down for that."

"Okay. Sunday?" He wanted to put a definite date on it so that it became a concrete thing and not just an idea.

"O-okay," Michonne agreed. Again, she was surprised by the suddenness of his suggestion. "It has to be after church."

"No problem. I'll pick you up."

"Okay."

"Okay."

They sat in silence for a moment more and then Michonne began to pack her stuff into her bag again. "You'll bring the project to school?" she asked.

"Yeah." Rick began to panic as Michonne zipped up her backpack. He usually got up to see her out whenever she left. But he couldn't get up. Not with the embarrassing bulge in his pants.

Michonne stood up, holding her bag in her hand and she turned to Rick expectantly. "Okay."

"...Okay," Rick said. He nodded and swallowed deeply. "Bye."

"...Are you not gonna see me out?" she asked.

'Damn!' Rick thought. He hoped that she would just leave. He couldn't really just say "no". She would think he was rude. And he had just gotten back into her good graces. And there was no way he could hide himself without being completely obvious. Having to make a decision quickly in order to not make things weird, Rick decided to just work on faith. Maybe his problem wasn't as noticeable as he thought.

He unclasped his hands and pushed himself into a standing position. "Right. Sorry. Let's go," he said quickly. If he acted normally, she surely wouldn't notice anything. He walked forward to lead her out and his stomach dropped when he saw that her eyes had fallen to his bulging jeans. What had he been thinking? Of course it was noticeable! Rick's face burned and his heart beat with nervousness and embarrassment but he continued to try to act normally in order to maintain his pride. He hoped that Michonne would play along. "Do you want me to drive you back?"

Rick breathed a sigh of relief when Michonne tore her eyes away from his traitorous body part and walked to the door alongside him. "No, thank you," she said. She cleared her throat and began to pull at her ear continuously. "I'll take the bus."

"Okay."

They stood at the door for a moment. "Okay!" Rick exclaimed. He opened the door. They stood and looked at each other.

"Okay," Michonne said. "Bye." Her eyes flicked to his jeans again then back up to his eyes.

"Bye," Rick said, pretending he didn't notice.

Neither of them moved.

Michonne willed her feet to move but they wouldn't. She didn't feel ready to go. But she knew she should. She laughed nervously, apologizing without words for not being able to leave.

Rick's heart beat loudly inside his chest. If she stayed there one second longer, he didn't know what he would do.

A second of silence passed.

Rick closed the door and pulled Michonne into his arms.

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Michonne sat astride Rick on the couch, kissing him fervently. She felt Rick's bulge pressing against her through the fabric of their clothing.

"I keep thinking about you," Rick breathed as he lifted her shirt over her head, revealing the expanse of glorious, dark skin that he had found so beautiful on first inspection and a sexy purple bra.

"I keep thinking about you too," Michonne said, before leaning in to devour him again. Their tongues clashed against each other without restraint.

"I'm sorry about not following you immediately. At the party."

"Let's not talk about it."

Michonne moved her hips against Rick's hardness. Rick leaned back and untucked his shirt quickly. He tried to pull it over his head but it got stuck going over his head at the first button. Michonne unbuttoned it for him and he tried again, pulling the shirt over his head effortlessly. She kissed his lips; he gripped her hips. They were so lost in their passion that they didn't notice the opening of the door.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN MY HOUSE?!"

Michonne jumped out of Rick's lap like a scalded cat and grabbed her nearby shirt. A quick glance told her that her worst fear was happening. An older woman and man had come into the house. They must be his parents. Michonne pulled her shirt over her head with wide, frightened eyes.

"Dad. Mom..." Rick said, just as panicked. He covered himself with his shirt as well.

Rick's mom looked as if she was about to faint.

"Get out of here, girl!" Rick's father shouted. Michonne didn't have to be told twice. She snatched up her bag and ran out of there. Only breathing when she reached the bus stop a block away.

"Shit..." she whispered. "Shit."

\- Shit is right. And I'm gonna go ahead and let on that Rick's parents initially aren't gonna be able to wrap their heads around their son being involved in an interracial relationship and Michonne's parents aren't gonna be much better. Whether they'll come around or if their opinion really even matters in the overall telling of this story...we'll see. Dun Dun Dun! -


	3. Chapter 3

\- There are gonna be 1-2 more chapters after this one. I thought this would be the final one, but I realized if I tried to squish all that I wanted to do into this one chapter, it was gonna come off as rushed and kinda weird so...therefore, 2 more chapters. -

Chapter Three

"You gonna explain to me who that girl was?"

Rick looked at the floor, his hands clasped between his knees as his parents scolded him. His mother was still pale. He wished they would just hurry up and finish yelling at him so he could leave. He was more embarrassed than anything. His parents had caught him in a compromising situation.

"She's my Chemistry partner," Rick explained. "We were working on a school project together. I told you about that."

"But you didn't tell me that you were doing more than working on a project!" his father yelled back. "How far have you gone with this girl?"

"What about Lori?" Rick's mother asked. "I'm supposed to have dinner with Lori's parents on Sunday. What am I supposed to tell them?"

"We raised you to be a gentleman," his father continued. "We raised you to have Christian values. You're not supposed to be like the rest of these kids running around having unprotected sex."

"Don't jump to conclusions, James," Rick's mother said to his father. "I'm sure Rick hasn't gone that far."

Rick swallowed deeply. "L-Lori and I broke up," he said, his face red. He chose to steer the topic towards one he was more comfortable with. "It happened a few weeks ago."

"Broke up?!" his mother asked, flabbergasted. "Why?!"

"It...just wasn't working out, mom."

"I'm planning on running for Senate in a few months son. You know that. Lori's father is my biggest supporter. We were going to run the family angle-"

"We can still run the family angle; Lori and I are still friends."

"We _can't _run the family angle if you're running around with this dark-skinned girl!" his father shouted. "This community doesn't know her! They know Lori! And they know you! They know you and Lori!" Rick clenched his jaw shut. "It may sound ridiculous but the smallest thing can throw a campaign off, son! I told you that when we first started this thing. You said you understood!" His father placed his hands on his hips. "And I'm holding you to that. Get done with this project and end it. Immediately."

"The project's already done," Rick said from between clenched teeth. He left his couch and stalked upstairs, unable to deal with his parents at the moment.

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"Michonne! Get in here! Now!"

Michonne's stomach dropped to her feet when she heard her father's no-nonsense voice calling out to her the minute she stepped through the door. It was never good news when his voice boomed like that. She slid her backpack off of her shoulders and to the ground before making her way slowly to her father's study.

"Yeah, Daddy?" she said, hesitating in the doorway.

He leaned back in the chair behind his desk, giving her his full attention. "Get in here. Don't hover in the doorway. What have I told you about that?"

Michonne followed his instructions, coming all the way in and closing the door behind her. Her father always told her to never do things in half-measures. To fully commit. And apparently hovering in the threshold of doorways wasn't fully committing and didn't show surety so it was one of her dad's pet peeves. She walked forward and clasped her hands in front of her, making sure to square her shoulders so that she didn't show weakness.

Her dad stared at her, knowing the exact moment when she became uncomfortable. She had gotten better at not showing it but he knew his daughter well. He could always tell. The muscles in her shoulders always became stiff, causing them to push back too far. He chose that moment of discomfort to begin speaking.

"Why am I getting calls from one..." He looked down at a Post-It note on his desk. "...Mr. Grimes asking me for a meeting because he claims _my _daughter was behaving indecently with his son?"

Michonne's stomach dropped further. She had been holding out hope that she was getting in trouble for something else. Not this. She inwardly cursed. She had barely left the house fifteen minutes ago and they had already called to inform her parents? Michonne glanced up at her father and then glanced back down. She couldn't say anything. To lie would be foolish and she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth to tell the truth.

"So it's true..." her father said. Again, Michonne stayed silent. Her father sighed. "I was sure that they had the wrong number. I was sure that they were calling about someone else. Because _my _daughter wouldn't be half undressed on someone else's couch and letting a boy touch on her."

Michonne felt heat rush to her face. They had really told her dad everything. "It's not as bad as it sounds..." Michonne said.

"...Who is this boy?" her father asked, his voice deceptively calm. "He live near here?"

"His name's Rick," Michonne answered. "He's my Chemistry partner. I told you about him. They live about fifteen minutes away..."

"How are his grades?"

"About average..."

"Average..." He stared and Michonne knew what he was thinking. Average wasn't good enough. "I thought you liked Terry's friend. Mike."

Michonne just kept her eyes on the carpet.

"Go to your room," her father said, dismissing her. "I expect you to come right back home after school tomorrow. We'll go to meet this family and we'll figure out what your punishment is going to be afterwards. And Michonne?" Michonne stopped in her tracks and turned over her shoulder for her father's last words. "I hope you haven't done anything foolish with this boy."

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At school the next day, Michonne waited nervously on the front steps to talk to Rick first thing in the morning. She held a notebook clutched close to her chest and craned her neck being watchful of both ends of the lot that stretched in front of the school building.

"Michonne!"

Michonne turned to see Sasha coming toward her, her brother Tyreese following close behind. She smiled with tight lips – too anxious to do anything else – as she welcomed her friend. "Hey, Sasha," she said. "How's it going?"

"What did you do?"

Sasha didn't waste any time interrogating Michonne, who's mouth fell open with the question. Michonne glanced at the quiet Tyreese standing behind Sasha and then back to her friend. "I- didn't do anything," she denied. She glanced towards Tyreese again, trying to give Sasha the message that she would talk if they were alone.

"Hey, Michonne," Tyreese said, giving her a shy smile.

Michonne smiled back, clutching the strap of her backpack. "Hi..."

Sasha got the message that Michonne wanted one less person to be there. "Tyreese, go to class!" Sasha snapped. She had no qualms about bossing her older brother around. "What are you standing here for? This is girl talk!"

Tyreese looked shocked. He hadn't been aware that there was some kind of secret conversation that needed to happen. But apparently there was. "Class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes..." he protested.

"So?" Sasha retorted. "Go somewhere else."

Tyreese looked slightly annoyed but he walked away, into the building. Michonne and Sasha watched him go before Sasha focused back in on Michonne. "My brother's got a crush on you, you know," she threw out casually before digging into her last question. "So tell me! What did you do at that white boy's house? And don't tell me nothing 'cause I can tell something happened! You're all tightened up."

Michonne blinked past her shock over the news of Tyreese having a crush on her and answered Sasha's question. "We didn't do anything!" she said again. When Sasha gave her a disbelieving look, Michonne sighed. "We didn't have a chance to. His parents walked in and caught us."

Sasha's mouth fell open and her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "His parents walked in on y'all doin' what?" she asked.

"Nothing serious!" Michonne said, stopping Sasha's rampaging thoughts before they went too far. "We were just making out a little-"

"With all of your clothes on?"

"Our shirts were off-"

"Oh, girl!"

"I know! But it wasn't that bad! I promise!"

"Were y'all in his bedroom?"

"No. We were in the living room."

"Okay, good. That's a lil' somethin' I guess. So what did they say?"

"I don't know. They told me to leave and I left! But then I got home and they had called my dad and everything!"

"What they call your parents for?"

"They want a meeting."

"Man! White people and their meetings...What y'all gon' talk about? You think they'll make you and Rick marry each other just 'cause of a little kissin'?"

Michonne's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought of that. "They wouldn't do that," she said. More confident than she felt. "Would they?"

"Who knows?" Sasha said with a shrug. "Their family is probably conservative. No sex before marriage. All that type of stuff."

"You think he told them that we had sex?"

"Maybe..." Sasha said. "I told you you should have let me come over there. I knew this was gonna happen..."

Michonne started to zone Sasha out. She was too busy thinking about the possibility of getting married straight out of high school. Her dreams of going off to college. Gone. Her dreams of being a lawyer. Disappearing. Being pinned down at eighteen. It was a nightmare.

"Look, girl, there he is."

Michonne snapped out of her fearful thoughts of the future to see Rick jogging over to her. After being reprimanded by her father, she had texted him, asking him to meet before school the next day. That's what they were doing.

"Sasha," she said, her hand trembling slightly. "Can you give us a minute?" A soft breeze was blowing through and the sky was gray. It was usually the kind of day that Michonne liked. The kind of day that made Michonne feel calm. But she wasn't getting that feeling of serenity today. This was the most unsettled she had felt in all of her eighteen years.

"Yeah, sure..." Sasha said. "Text me whenever you're done, okay?"

Michonne nodded.

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"Hey," Rick said, stopping in front of Michonne as her friend disappeared into the school building behind them.

"Hey," Michonne responded, looking worried.

There was a lot they needed to talk about. He wasn't sure where to start. He wasn't sure about anything. This was just starting and he could already tell that this was much different than the relationship he had shared with Lori. Michonne wasn't his childhood friend. She wasn't someone he was used to. This was new. It was scary. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The worried expression Michonne wore flashed to surprise and then a small smile lifted her lips. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Rick said with a shrug and a lopsided grin of his own. "I just..."

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Michonne nodded as he trailed off into silence. He didn't need to finish his sentence. She understood that he was just trying to figure her out. Whether she was the kind of girl who liked to be greeted with a kiss. Maybe Lori was that kind of girl.

Michonne was flattered that he was even trying to figure her out at all. But it also made her a little nervous. Did this mean he wanted to try to get serious? If so, this would be Michonne's first big relationship. But she couldn't even consider the possibility until they talked about this whole parents-being-involved thing.

"What happened after I left?" Michonne asked. "Did you get in trouble?"

Rick shifted on his feet. "Not really. I think they were too shocked to really punish me or anything. I'm sure any punishment will come after this meeting." He glanced into her eyes. "Did – did you get in trouble? I heard my dad calling your dad."

Michonne shrugged. It had been torture to stand in her father's office under his scrutinizing eyes but she couldn't really explain that feeling to Rick at the present moment. "Not really," she said, echoing his answer. "It's the same with me. Punishment meted out after the meeting." She cleared her throat. "So...Did you- Did they- Do they know that we...?"

"That we've had sex?" Rick asked. "No."

Michonne released a breath of relief. "Good," she said. "My dad would _kill _me if he found out. And probably you too."

Rick felt a chill go down his back. "It's good that he didn't find out then..." Rick agreed. "...But do you really think we can keep it from them?"

"I know _I _can," Michonne said. She stared at Rick, demanding he harden his resolve as well.

"Yeah. Yeah," Rick said. "I can too." He had never kept a secret from his family before. It was a something that Shane always bitched at him about. The fact that he was so open with his parents. It was just that he had never really done anything that he knew they were against.

Michonne chuckled. A bit more relaxed now that she knew they hadn't been completely found out.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Nothing," Michonne said, finding her worries from merely a few seconds ago foolish. "It's just that I was having all these crazy thoughts about being forced to marry you just because we had slept together."

Rick laughed. "What?" he asked.

"I know. It's stupid," Michonne said. "I was just freaking out and Sasha said your parents were probably conservative and..." She gestured with her hand to show how her mind just took those thoughts and went crazy.

"Yeah they're conservative but not Victorian era conservative," he chuckled along with Michonne. "They're still pissed that I broke up with Lori. If they force me to marry anyone, it'll be her."

Michonne's chuckles died down. She fiddled with the spinal ring of the notebook clutched against her chest. "So are they...against me?" she asked.

Rick was silent for a moment; that silence told Michonne everything she needed to know. "...I just think we didn't get to make a very good first impression."

Michonne rolled her eyes, still wanting to cringe from embarrassment whenever she thought about it. "You think?" she said. Students began to walk by more and more frequently as it got closer to the beginning of the first class. Michonne looked back at Rick, wanting to clarify something before they went about the rest of their day. "So...is there a 'we'?" Rick stared at her. "I mean, are we going to go into that meeting as boyfriend and girlfriend or...as two Chemistry partners saying they made a mistake and will never do it again?"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend," Rick replied.

Michonne smiled at the simple way in which Rick answered, as if he was choosing from a list of multiple choice. "...Okay," she said, celebrating inside. "Boyfriend and girlfriend it is."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Things were immediately awkward. But in a good way.

Rick's heart pounded in his chest and a light blush drifted to his cheeks. He had never felt this nervous with Lori. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Okay..." he said again, kicking himself for saying it.

Michonne chuckled. Finally, to stop the madness, she stepped forward and placed a quick kiss against his lips. She stepped away with a shy smile. "Okay," she said. "I'll see you in Chemistry. Did you bring our project?"

"Uh- yeah. It's – uh...in the classroom already." Rick was left fumbling for words after the kiss.

"Okay," Michonne said. She took a step back.

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye- See you later."

"Yeah, see you later." Knowing that only leaving would help the situation, Michonne laughed lightly with a shake of her head and turned around to enter the building. She decided she would use the class periods before Chemistry to think of cool and funny things to say around him.

Rick just hoped he could form a complete sentence the next time they talked.

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Rick sat at his table at the back of the class when he reached Chemistry. The tables all had black, glossy tops and stood in perfect rows throughout the room. A sink was in the middle of the table and various beakers and other tools and containers were lined up there as well. At each table, was placed two chairs.

When Rick's usual desk companion, Charlie, strolled into the room, Rick held out his hand to stop him from sitting in the seat beside him. "Hey, Charlie," he said. Charlie was a blonde male with blue eyes, bad acne, and he always looked sleepy or high. Rick was pretty sure he was probably both. "Can you sit somewhere else for today?" Rick asked.

"Why?" Charlie asked, in that tired drawl of his.

"Just 'cause I wanna sit with my partner for the presentation today," Rick said. "We got some thangs to talk about."

Charlie sighed but he shrugged acceptance. "Fine, dude. Whatever." He then shuffled over to another table where he laid his head down on his arms to sleep.

With that taken care of, Rick waited anxiously for Michonne's arrival. She finally walked through the door a couple minutes later and her eyes found his immediately. He smiled and lifted his hand in greeting. Michonne smiled and waved back...before turning and sitting in her usual seat.

Rick's heart sank and his brows furrowed in confusion. He stared at the back of her head, willing her to turn around and look at him and it didn't take long for her to do so. He gave her a questioning look. 'What are you doing?' it read.

Michonne sent a questioning look back. 'What do you mean?'

Rick pointed at the empty seat beside him. Michonne's face registered understanding. 'Oh,' she mouthed. She turned to the girl at her table, said something, and then stood up as she pulled her backpack over her shoulder. Rick smiled as she began to make her way back to him and left her friend with a confused look on her face.

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'What were you thinking, Michonne?' she asked herself as she made her way to Rick's table. 'Of course you sit with your boyfriend.'

She took the seat beside Rick, took the backpack off her shoulders, and began to remove books. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey."

Silence.

Michonne's stomach was knotted with nerves. She had come up with tons of things to say. Why wasn't any of it coming to her now?

"So, um...Should I sit here from now on?" she asked.

"I'd like you to," Rick answered.

"Okay..." Michonne chuckled. "I feel like such a loser asking that, it's just...I haven't really been in a real relationship before so the rules are all kind of new to me."

Rick smiled. He couldn't believe that he had been intimidated by this girl before. All he could think now while she fiddled with her belongings and avoided his eyes was that she was the cutest thing. "There aren't any rules," Rick said, feeling more assured now that he knew he wasn't the only one who didn't know what the hell he was doing. "I think we just sort of...play it by ear."

"The last time we played it by ear we had sex," Michonne said.

"Exactly," Rick replied with a coy grin.

Michonne held back a smile and shook her head. "Let's knock this presentation out of the park," she said, switching the topic to a safer subject.

"I find it hard to believe that you haven't been in a relationship before me," Rick said, not allowing Michonne to completely change the subject.

Michonne shrugged. "I've mostly just been focused on Harvard," Michonne said. "And I've had a crush on the same guy since pretty much forever so I haven't really been on the lookout for dates."

"Who?" Rick asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Who have I had a crush on?"

"Yeah..."

Michonne smiled as she began to title a blank notebook page in preparation for notes. "One of my brother's friends. You don't know him."

"Why are you smiling?" Rick asked teasingly. "You smile when you think about him? You still have a crush on him?"

Michonne smiled wider and shook her head.

"What does you shaking your head mean?" Rick asked. "It mean you don't have a crush on him or you just blowing my questions off?"

"I'm just blowing your questions off," Michonne said with a chuckle.

"So you _do _still have a crush on him!"

"I didn't say that."

"But you're not denying it either," Rick said, truly growing worried.

Michonne stopped writing in her notebook and faced him. "Are you one of those crazy jealous guys, Rick?" Michonne asked. "Because I don't know if I can handle that."

"So you're saying you would break up with me if I was jealous right now?"

"No. I'm saying...that you're my boyfriend. So the fact that I found this other guy handsome and funny should not even make you blink because you're already ten steps ahead of him." Michonne smiled. Rick smiled in return.

"...So you found this guy handsome and funny-"

Michonne laughed. "Oh my god..."

"I'm just kidding," Rick said. "Are you nervous about the meeting this evening?"

"Very," Michonne replied.

Rick was about to say something to reassure her but the teacher began her announcement and the lights went off. Presentations were about to begin. Michonne immediately looked forward and got her pencil poised to take notes. Rick moved his hand over beneath the table and laced his fingers with Michonne's. She looked over and smiled before turning her attention back to the front. Focused on Michonne while she focused on taking notes, Rick enjoyed Chemistry class for the first time in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

\- Finally, I got this updated! Woohoo! -

Chapter Four: Towards the End of the World

The atmosphere was not comfortable. Michonne and Rick sat on the couch holding hands, their parents staring at them from the other couch opposite them.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Grimes asked.

"We're going to date," Rick repeated for the second time. "She's my girlfriend."

Mrs. Grimes mouth opened and closed as if she was searching for words to say but her brain simply could not keep up. "Umm...What-what about Lori?" she finally asked.

They were ten minutes into the meeting and Rick and Michonne had started the meeting off dropping this bomb. That they were indeed together and it wasn't just some careless, teenage thing.

"Mom, I already told you Lori and I broke up," Rick said, a note of exasperation tingeing his voice.

"But-" Mrs. Grimes lips opened and closed again. Once more, lost for words.

Michonne's parents sat silently looking on with disapproving expressions clear on their face. Michonne kept looking at them, their opinions important to her.

A silent moment passed and then Mr. Grimes turned to look at the other adults. They were all seated on the same couch in the living room, which was large enough to hold all four of them with a polite cushion kept unoccupied in between. Rick and Michonne were sitting on a parallel couch, facing them.

"I think we can all agree...that our kids are being reckless," Mr. Grimes announced. Rick and Michonne glanced at each other. "I'm running for Senator soon. I've told my son that this relationship can't happen. What are your thoughts?"

Michonne's father looked over at Mr. Grimes. "Of course this relationship can't happen," he agreed. Michonne's heart sank into her stomach. "Your son isn't good enough for our daughter." Dread and embarrassment caused Michonne to close her eyes. When she opened them, she sent Rick an apologetic look. He squeezed her hand, his blue eyes squinting back at her.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Grimes asked. The relieved expression that had been about to settle on his face from what he had perceived to be a mutual agreement turned into a frown of disbelief. Of all the reasons the Grimes felt the two couldn't be in a relationship, one of those reasons obviously didn't include the idea that their son wasn't good enough. "_My _son isn't good enough for _your _daughter?"

"No, he's not," Michonne's father stated, his voice deep and low in his chest. It was a voice that held authority and power. A voice that Michonne knew meant business. Usually business that she didn't like. "My daughter is on a fast track to Harvard with a four point 'o' average and a clear road out of Atlanta and definitely _King's _County Farmville. Your son is on a fast track to nowhere." He turned his head, dismissing Mr. Grimes. "Michonne. Let go of that boy's hand and get your ass up off that couch. We're going."

Michonne turned to Rick. She was torn between obeying her father – something she knew was wise, especially when he spoke in his official voice – and standing by her new boyfriend. If she let go of his hand now, who was to say that they would have the nerve to stick together until the end? Luckily the decision was taken out of her hands when Mr. Grimes spoke up.

"Well..._Mister_..." Rick's father said. "I don't know why you feel the need to insult my son, but I have to say we didn't have to worry about coming home to find our son groping a member of the opposite sex when he was with Lori."

Michonne's father stiffened and her mother glared over at the Grimes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I mean..." Rick's father said, not backing down.

"Dad-" Rick tried to interrupt him but his dad talked over him.

"I mean that it doesn't seem your daughter there has been taught the right womanly virtues of valuing her body."

The energy around Michonne's father became dangerous. He turned to face Mr. Grimes, all six feet of him coiled and tense. Sensing the atmosphere, Mr. Grimes stood as well. For a moment it looked as if the two men would come to actual blows.

Michonne grasped Rick's hand tighter. Maybe presenting their relationship right up front wasn't the best tactic; things seemed to be escalating quickly.

"Dad," Rick said warningly. He felt Michonne's tension beside him and he was ready to get in between the two men if it came to that. Even though both men were significantly bigger than him.

"Now I didn't call you both here for an argument," Mr. Grimes said, not taking his eyes off of the other man.

"What did you call us here for then?" Michonne's mother asked, standing up. "To tell us all of the reasons why our daughter won't be good for your son?" She looked Mr. Grimes up and down. "You didn't have to call us here for that. We could've come to an agreement over the phone. That our children being in a relationship won't do. We wouldn't have had to get into the ugliness of what you really think."

"Hold on now," Mr. Grimes said, holding up a hand. "What do I really think?!"

"Oh, don't even act like-"

"No, what do I really think? What _ugliness _are you talking about? You people always-!"

"_You people?!_"

"Yes, you people! You people always jump to the conclusion that skin color has somethin' to do with everything. When it has nothing to do with anything!"

"Oh, really-!"

Michonne's mother inhaled. She was like a hot air balloon, getting more and more heated and soon she would be taking off. Michonne's father grabbed her wrist gently before she started. "Let's not even bother," he said. "Michonne, get up! We're going!"

Michonne was practically cringing into her seat at this point.

"No, I'm not going!" Michonne's mother said.

Michonne wasn't surprised.

The hot air balloon was in the air.

"First. We come in here, it's Lori this and Lori that." Michonne's mother squared off with Mr. Grimes, her coming up to the middle of his chest. That didn't stop her from staring directly into his face though. Michonne's father stood protectively behind her and Mrs. Grimes sat on the couch with a pale face, looking as if she didn't know when and how things got so heated. "Next. You say '_my _son isn't good enough for _your _daughter?' like it should be the other way around. Then you claim that our daughter doesn't have values – implying that _we _didn't teach her well. That _we _didn't raise that right. Isn't that what you were saying?"

"I think we just need to sit back down and talk about this calmly," Mr. Grimes said.

"There's nothing else to talk about," Michonne's mother cut him off. "You don't want your son to be with our daughter and I _definitely _don't want my daughter involved with this family. So congratulations. It looks like we both get what we want."

Michonne and Rick looked at each other. There was a large factor missing from their parents' conversation. "What about what we want?" Michonne asked, turning to face their parents.

"It doesn't matter what you want," Michonne's father said harshly. Matter-of-factly. "We know what's best for you."

Michonne scowled.

The two sets of parents descended into more arguing and Michonne wondered what the hell Rick and her were even doing there. His mind must have been following the same train of thought because she soon felt him tugging on her hand. She turned her attention to Rick and he tilted his head toward the door. Michonne glanced at their arguing parents and then back at him and gave him a short nod. He stood and led her toward the door.

Michonne thought they were going to make it outside without their parents even realizing they were going but the voice of Michonne's father called after them. "Where do you two think you're going?!" his voice boomed.

"Out," Rick called back shortly and continued out the door.

They made it to Rick's car and drove off. Michonne looked in the rear view mirror to see her parents yelling after her from the doorway.

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They parked somewhere vacant. Empty. Nowhere. On the side of a road in between a line of trees. They had been driving for a couple of hours it seemed. The sun was beginning to set.

Silence pervaded the car after the engine was shut off.

Michonne picked at the cloth seat beside her thigh. "...Our project went well," she finally said. Not talking about what they were doing. But what they did. Did they _know _what they were doing? Michonne wasn't sure. "Mrs. McKinnon was impressed. I could tell. I'm sure we got an 'A'."

Rick nodded and released the steering wheel. Allowing his grip to relax for the first time in hours. "Yeah," he said. "Probably the first 'A' I'll ever get in that class."

Michonne chuckled. "Really?" she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice.

"Hey," Rick said, getting playfully defensive because he picked up on her tone. "Don't judge. Not everyone can be valedictorian extraordinaire."

"Hey, don't jinx it," Michonne said quickly. "I'm not valedictorian yet. It hasn't been announced."

"Oh, please. You know you're going to-"

"Nope," Michonne said. She held her hands up to her ears. "Don't say it! Andrea is right on my tail and she has been since freaking kindergarten. So I don't wanna-"

"Andrea?! Andrea _Harrison_?" Rick grinned in amusement at the seriousness with which Michonne was treating this topic.

"Yes!" Michonne responded vehemently. "And she's involved with extracurriculars out the wazoo and she's the principal's favorite and...ugh! I _swear _I would love her if she weren't so freaking annoying!"

Rick chuckled. "Andrea's a suck up and an overachiever," Rick said, forcing his tone to match Michonne's serious tone. "She's got nothing on you!"

Michonne knew Rick was just humoring her, but she was pepped by his words all the same. "Right?" she said. "I just wish she would sit down and rest or...forget a class one day. _And_!" Michonne unhooked her seatbelt and turned to Rick; it happened so quickly that Rick was startled. She was obviously passionate about this. Rick unhooked his own seatbelt and made to face her more fully, trying to keep his smile of amusement at bay because this was actually an important topic to one person in the car. "She wants to go to Harvard! Can you believe that?!"

"No!" Rick said, assuming that was the right thing to say. It was. Michonne nodded, egged on by his agreement and continued on.

"I know! I mean, hello! Stop stalking me, please! Can't she go to Yale or something?! She's going to be my rival until the day one of us dies."

A bit of Rick's smile slipped out.

"What?" Michonne said, responding to Rick's expression. "Oh God, I sound like those snobby girls don't I? I sound like those girls I hate. Please tell me I don't sound like a hateful snob." Her hands had flown to her cheeks, as she was slightly horrified at the thought.

"No," Rick said, taking her hand from her cheek and cradling it between his own two hands. "You don't sound like a snob." Michonne gave him a small smile. "But you _do _sound like you can afford to take a couple steps back," Rick said honestly. "Stop stressing over this. Trust me. You're gonna get everything you want and more. 'Cause you've worked had for it and you deserve it. And Andrea nor anybody else is going to be able to get in the way of that."

Michonne's smile grew wider. Rick shared the smile with her until a sadness creeped into his eyes. Noticing it, Michonne squeezed his hand. "What is it?" she asked with concern.

"Just thinking about our parents..." Rick said.

Michonne's smile faded.

"I can't believe it happened that way," Rick continued. "I never thought I would be embarrassed of my parents."

Michonne nodded, understanding him completely. She hadn't considered it _her _family's shining moment either. "They acted like children," she concluded. "And then had the nerve to act like they know what's best for us."

Rick glanced up at her with some apology in his eyes. "I'm sorry for some of the things my parents said," he confessed. "They're not racist, I promise! Or at least, I don't think they are..."

Michonne laughed. "It's okay," she said. "For the record, I don't think they're racist either. People just speak before thinking sometimes. And not to put all of the blame on him but...your father was doing a lot of that."

Rick chuckled, glad that Michonne was taking it all in stride and glad that she didn't seem overly hurt by it. "Yeah," he said. "He does that."

Rick was silent. There was a weight to the silence. Michonne was aware of what the silence held. She let her head fall gently against the seat as she stared at Rick, her hand still held in his.

"You're running away with me, aren't you?" Michonne surmised, a lightness to her voice. With nothing ahead and nothing behind, they were in their own little world inside the car and their possibilities were limitless.

Rick glanced at her. His lips lifted into a small smile. "...I'd like to..." he said.

Michonne smiled. She turned to stare at the road ahead for a moment. "Rick Grimes the romantic," she teased. She fixed him with her stare again. "You don't even know me."

"I know you," Rick said, facing her. Meeting her steady gaze. "I haven't been dating you long, but I know you."

They stared into each other's eyes and Rick's gaze was piercing. Michonne knew he was being sincere and not just reenacting his own version of _Romeo and Juliet_. She turned away. She knew him too. All that she needed to know anyway. It was right there in his eyes. In the way that he opened his body up to her whenever she spoke. In the way that he absorbed her words as if the secrets of life were falling from her lips.

Even when she was simply talking about a stupid rivalry.

"So where are you taking me?" Michonne asked, her eyes on the road again.

Rick sighed and his eyes faced the empty road as well. "...Nowhere."

"...Where _were _you taking me?"

"...Nowhere..."

Michonne glanced over at Rick and his heavy tone. Then she glanced back to the road. "You suck at this," she joked. A half-assed joke. A dry chuckle left her lips. "You're supposed to say Vegas. So we can elope."

One side of Rick's lips turned up into a smile. "You wouldn't marry me," he said.

"I might," Michonne challenged.

"Nah..." Rick said.

"Why not?"

"You have your future planned. And it's a good future. And it doesn't include me."

"It could..."

"...Nah..."

A heaviness settled in Michonne's chest. There it was. The weight of the previously unspoken. Michonne glanced at Rick. He was still facing ahead. His face sure. Determined. Resolved. "You really suck at this," Michonne said. Another dry chuckle. She looked down to hide sudden tears on her lashes. She felt ridiculous. She hadn't even officially dated him past a day. She hadn't even spoken to him before this semester. She tried to remind herself of these things.

"Your dad was right," Rick said. He continued to look ahead. Avoiding her gaze. He would embarrass himself with emotion if he were to look at her. He swallowed deeply. "I'm not going anywhere. You are. And I don't wanna hold you back."

Michonne was silent. Her mind was going over scenario after scenario. Trying to find a way to make it work. Nothing came to her except impulsive acts that could lead everywhere or nowhere. And the nowhere of it all was too scary to accept.

"Our parents would never accept us, would they?" Michonne asked.

Rick shrugged. "...They might. I doubt it. But they might. After a year or so...Or when the world ends..."

He turned to look at Michonne. She looked back at him. They knew. They didn't have a year. They were heading towards different paths.

Michonne moved towards Rick and pressed a kiss against his lips. They froze there. Savoring the moment. Remembering it.

The kiss ended and Michonne ran a gentle thumb across Rick's bottom lip and stared into his eyes. Ingraining the steel blue of his gaze into her memory.

As she looked into his eyes, she imagined him growing up to be a respected deputy in his community. A loving father of two kids. Married to a woman who loved him the best she could. At the same time, Rick was seeing Michonne in all of her glory. A successful career. A successful marriage. With a beautiful family.

"I met you too soon, Rick Grimes," Michonne whispered.

Rick closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "See you at the end of the world?"

"...I'll be there."

**THE END**

\- I should be starting on another long multi-chapter fic soon. Do you guys want an AU non-zombie fic or apocolyptic world fic? -


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